... meet Julian and Jane Davis (see "Gone with the wind," attached*). Jane, a former nurse, and Julian's a farmer. They live in Lincolnshire, England. "Gone with the wind" appeared in the Daily Mail (United Kingdom) yesterday (as far as I can tell).
Now, meet Noble Environmental (attached). Read "Gone with the wind," then read Noble's ads in the Malone Telegram from a year or so ago. And don't miss Charles Hinckley's e-mail, attached, about my wife and me. (Hinckley, CEO of Noble, sent this email around to people on my email list, including my wife's sister at Cornell.)
Noble believes it's on the verge of erecting hundreds of wind turbines in Clinton and Franklin counties, New York State. (As well as elsewhere in New York and Michigan, but I will leave those projects alone for the time being.) Noble was given approval to build these hundreds of turbines by the town boards of Clinton, Ellenburg, and Altona, and it is very likely going to get similar approval from the towns of Chateaugay and Bellmont. (Noble is not alone in this venture, of course; Horizon/Marble River is likewise planning on hundreds in Clinton County, as well as, perhaps, Franklin County.)
Compare Noble's ads in the Telegram to the story on the Davises. Interesting, huh? Kinda makes your blood boil, doesn't it?
This is why some of us -- many of us, in fact -- are fighting Noble. Because of stories like the Davises. Neighbors for the Preservation of the North Country hired attorney Robert Cohen last year to stop Noble in court, and so far it's succeeded. NPNC's lawsuit, filed last September, is holding, and Noble has not built a single turbine, despite promises it would have some up in 2006 (which ended 3 months ago). None, so far.
Besides the lawsuit, NPNC is fighting Noble before the Army Corps of Engineers, since Noble needs permits from the Corps. Once again, Bob Cohen is doing the heavy lifting on the Army Corps process.
When you go to bed tonight, think about Jane & Julian Davis. Chances are good they won't be sleeping much tonight. Or tomorrow night. Or last night, for that matter. Well, come to think of it, any night -- unless they vacate their home and stay in town. Like the d'Entremonts in Nova Scotia, who finally gave up, locked their front door, and abandoned their home. That was 13 months ago. Same reason. (But, again, don't forget Noble's ads in the Telegram.)
The wind salesmen: Who are these people? Are they real people?
I am a retired professional historian. One of the things I studied and taught as a historian was Nazi Germany. How people in Hitler's Germany did horrible things to other human beings -- all because they were told to do so by some (deranged) superior. Hannah Arendt, the philosopher, attended the Nuremberg war crimes trials after WWII. She was especially interested in Adolph Eichmann, the SS officer who orchestrated the Death Camp process. The so-called Final Solution. Arendt took notes during the Eichmann trial, which happened some years after the Nuremberg trials, listening intently to this man's answers to cross-examination. She came away shocked by his coldness -- his chilly, matter-of-fact inhumaneness. She sat there looking at the face of evil, day after day, and found evil to be banal. Matter-of-fact. Just getting the job done.
"The banality of evil." Arendt didn't put it quite this way, but it's a now-famous summary of her analysis of Eichmann.
I would suggest applying this phrase to the wind energy salesmen: the banality of evil. Remember the Davises and imagine that the wind energy company behind this atrocity is ... yawning. They have a job to do -- for themselves, for their stockholders. The Davises are expendable. They don't matter.
Take a look at the wind energy ads in your local newspaper and think of the banality of evil. Not just banal, but even cheerful. Where truth just doesn't matter. Nor the pursuit of truth. My wife and I have pursued truth, and Mr. Hinckley responds with the attached "executive summary," he calls it.
Sitting here on this early spring morning, I think of Hannah Arendt and I think, of course, of George Orwell. His 1984. Where language, truth, decency, gravitas, grace -- they've all vanished.
Nineteen eight-four ended 23 years ago. We are now in the era of Noble Environmental. Re-read Mr. Hinckley's broadside against my wife and me, and ask yourself if you detect anything "noble" or "environmental" about it.
And remember Orwell. For that matter, remember Arendt.
Blessings on you,
Calvin
Calvin Luther Martin, PhD
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